VBA Leadership Meltdown?

A bizarre e-mail sent by the top political appointee at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to all 15,000 VBA employees was posted at VAWatchDog.org, leading many in the Veteran community to openly speculate if VBA’s leadership is melting down.

In her self-proclaimed “strange” e-mail, loaded with “We Will,” “All In,” and happy face emoticons “:),” Hickey cheers employees to meet her goal of “125/98% in 2015.” Sent at 4:16 a.m. early last Thursday morning, she pleads with VBA employees to process all disability claims within 125 days with 98 percent accuracy in 2015, the same promise she made to Congress in July 2012.

However, VBA continues melting down, as Veterans wait an average of 272 days, more than twice her goal. VBA’s error rate hovers around 14 percent, seven times her goal. In 2012, nearly 20,000 Veterans died waiting on Hickey’s reforms.

Send Us Your Pix

Please post a picture of yourself at our Facebook page holding a sheet of paper with the number of days you are waiting, plus your VBA Regional Office City. With your permission, we’ll post them at Bergmann & Moore as a reminder to VBA, Congress, and the American public that there are more than 900,000 Veterans and families waiting for VBA to provide prompt and accurate claim decisions.